Coin-controlled vending-machine



D. CHARLESON.

00m CONTROLLED VENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 4 1918.

Patented Jan. 11, 1921.

Cat

UNITED s r s Y PA QFFIFE- noivALn CHARLESON, on CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T0 BENJ. T. noonn'onsnjon 'WILMETTE, ILLINOIS, AND'EDWIN K. LUNDY, .13., or WINNETKA, ILLINOIS.

COIN-CONTROLLED VENDING-MACHINE.

To all whom it may concern. v j 7 Be it known that I, DONALD CHARLnsoN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Chicago, county of Cook, and

' erence to a machine for vending sticksjof chewing gum, chocolate bars and confections in similar form, or any commodity capable of being 'vended in a wrapper of suitable form, that are adapted to be dispensed, one at a time, upon the deposit ofa coin. v

The construction of my apparatus is not complicated, its operation is simple and it is inexpensive to manufacture, while its size is such that it occupiesbut a small space so that it maybe readily attached to the backs of seats in theatersor auditoriums, .without interfering with. the movements of persons to or from the seats, or a plurality of the structures may be grouped side side and inclosed within a single casing for use vupon counters of cigar-stands, candy-"stores, drugstores,:and other places where the articles maybe sold. j

ne of the principal objectsiof my invention is the provision of a vending apparatus that contains a minimum :of working or operating elements, and 'to' this end I n have designeda structure whereinjbut three suchparts are employed. Another object .is the provision of a vending apparatus of the coin-controlled type that hasfnovel mechanism for closing the coin slot 'when the supply of commodities has [been exhausted in the stack or magazine. further object, is the provision of novel means for preventing persons tampering with the apparatus, which means comprises a fal'selbottom in the lower portion of the coin. chute anchwhich is adapted ,to cooperatewith; the mechanism for depositing -thecoin' in the coin box, as wellfas with the ejecting devices. Other objects willbe obvious to others skilled in this art;,after an understanding. of 1 my inventionis had from: the following description and accompanying drawings that form a part hereof. In the drawings,

Figure 1 is avertical elevation of my improved coin-controlled vend ng machine, a

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 11, 1921;

, Application filed February 4, 1918. Serial No. 215,328.

portion of the front casing and other parts L bein'g broken away for clearness. 4

,, Fig. 2 is a vertical. longitudinal section thereof taken on line.2.2, ig. 3, and looking in the direction of the arrows. 1 Fig. 3 is a vertical elevation of the righthand end of the apparatus, illustrated in F ig. 1. t j 1 eferringto the drawings, in which similar reference characters are employed throughout theviews todesignate the same parts, it will be observed 1- have provided a back 5, of metal or the like, upon which an inclosing casing 6 is secured in-any suitable manner, and screw, holes 7 7 are made in the back 5, whereby the-i apparatus may be conveniently and readily attached to a theater seat, or to a wall or other support; ,A commodity stacking chamber is mounted on the back 5 and comprises vertically disposed,

substantially L-shaped or u-shaped strips of metal 8, the edges of thenarrow lateral T flanges whereof face each othervto provide guides forfthe magazine wherein'the sticks of commodities 9gare adaptedto be stacked, the one upon the other, and held inlposition by a follower or weight 10. The bottom of the magazine comprises along'itudinally slotted, horizontally disposed plate,.or oppositely disposed spaced L-shaped plates 11, upon which the longitudinal edges; of the lowermost stick of commodity rests and thereby bridges theslot orspace below the,

same in order tosupport the remainder of the commodity stack. H x Disposed 1n a horizontal parallel plane beneath the magazinebottom and spaceda slight distance therefrom, is a guide plate 12, that has an elongated openingildtherein, that isof a widthslightly greater than the diameter of thecoin in order that the latter may readily pass therethrough. in the man=- ner'to be hereinafter described. Anlongiv tudinally .reciprocable 1 slide 14 is supported and guidedby the guide plate12 and is prevented from complete withdrawal by laterally bent lug .15, projecting toward; each other at the adjacent endof. guide plate 12 that cooperate with. stop-pins l6flprojecting upwardly from the slide; The outer portion of theslide projects througha slot in the casing G and is curveddownwardlyto provide a handle 17, as shown, while-the opposite or inner end of saidnslide hasa transverse coinslot 18 from theopposite slidesof which slot the upright walls 19 of a coin receptacle or pocket arise to a point slightly belowthe bottom plate 11 of the magazine,

so that they may readily pass thereunder.

A coin chute 20 preferably extends down alongside one of the magazine walls 8, so that its upper end registers with the. coin slot in the top of the casing and its lower end terminates just above the coin pocket 19 in a vertical plane slightly outside the vertical plane of the center of said pocket. lVhen a coinis deposited in chute 20, it will not gravitate to the pocket 19 for the reason that I have provided a vibratory coin-stop or false bottom in the lower portion of the chute, that consists; of a transverse plate 21 that extends across said chute and is carried upon the lower end of a vertically disposed lever 22, that is fulcrumed intermediate its ends onpivot lugs 23 on the outer wall of the chute. A spring 24; keeps the portion of the lever below its fulcrum normally pressed toward the chute, which consequently positions the coin stop or false bottom 21 across the chute so that the deposited coin will rest therein temporarily. In order to release the coin, a downwardly extended finger 25 is provided upon the coin stop or false bottom 21 which projects below the upper edges of the walls of the coin pocket as shown. When the slide 14; is given a slight rearward movement, the adjacent wall 19 ofthe coin pocket will engage finger 25 and will move the false bottom out of the chute to permit the coin to fall into the pocket which is then in alinement or registry with the chute. As shown, the coin will be supported upon the guide plate 12 back of the opening 13 by the pocket 19 and the upper portion or segment of the coin will be in a horizontal plane slightly above the magazine bottom 11, but below theplane of the second lowermost commodity. A for ward or outward pull upon the handle 17 will cause the coin to engage the adjacent end of the lowermost commodity and move it so as to cause it opposite end to be projected far enough through the commodity discharge opening in the casing to permit it to be removed by the purchaser. The moment the purchaser begins to withdraw the commodity after it'has been projected by the coin, the latter will be released and will fall through the slot 18 in the bottom of the pocket and alsopass through the slot 13 provided therefor in the guide plate. In the event the purchaser does "not withdraw the slide 14 to its full limit, or endeavors to return it suddenly to its first position in an attempt to defraud the machine, thev coin will instantly drop out of the pocket and through the slot 13 to the bottom of the casing. In fact, any movement of the commodity or slide, independent of each other, will cause the coin to be released-and be deposited in the bottom of the casing. And it will be noted that the slot 18 inthe pocket 19'does not register with the opening 13 in the guide plate when said slide is in its rearmost position, but when the slide has been moved outwardly far enough to permit the coin to engage the lowermost commodity,

the slot will then be above the opening and will remain above the same throughout the entire outward movement ofthe slide, the pressure of the coin against the commodity causing the coin to be forced against the walls of the pocket 'and thereby frictionally retained therein until the pressure of the commodity and walls upon the coin is released.

The upper portion of the lever 22 is bent toward the coin chute to provide a lateral member 26, that is adapted'to be moved across the top of-the coin chute below the coin slot in the casing. The follower or weight 10 has an arm 27, of substantially L- shape, that projects therefrom outside the magazine wall so that the beveled end 28 of its lateral member is in vertical alinemont with the member 25 on the coin-stop, so that when the last stick of commodity has been dispensed from said magazine, this .beveledend 28 is adapted to engage said member 25 and move it in the same manner it is moved by the coin pocket or slide. This movement will rock the lever 22, causing its upper lateral end 26 to move across and close the coin chute so that no coins may be deposited after the magazine has been emptied of the commodities.

What I claim is 1. A vending machine comprising a magazine wherein commodities are stacked, a follower disposed on the top of said commodities, a guide-plate below said magazine and provided with an elongated opening, a reciprocable slide mounted on said guide, a coin-pocket on said slide having an open bottom adapted to be moved over the opening in said guide-plate, a coin-chuteabove said pocket, a vibratory lever pivoted intermediate its ends adjacent said chute, a lateral arm on said lever coacting with the upper end of said chute, a plate carried by said lever and adapted to enter the lower portion of said coin-chute, a spring engaging said lever and adapted to normally position said plate in said chute, a projection on said plate engageable by said coin-pocket, and a finger carried by said follower adapted to engage said projection when said follower has reached the bottom of said magazine. I

2. In a vending machine, a commodity magazine in which said commodities are adapted to be stacked; said magazine being provided with a port throughlwhich a co1nmodity in said magazine is adapted to be projected, acoin chute, a movable slide having an open bottom coin pocket for receiving a coin from said chute, an open bottom guide-way for said slide having a projection in the bottom thereof adapted to cooperate with the open bOiitOIlLQOlIl pocket to retain a coin therein until the coin is caused to engage a commodity through the movement of said slide, said projection disengaging from the coin immediately upon the engagement ofthe coin with the commodity, whereby the engagement between the commodity and coin is necessary for the retention of said coin in said coin pocket during the entire projection of a commodity from said magazine and the disengagement between said commodity and said coin releases said coin from said coin pocket.

3. In a vending machine, a connnodity magazine in which commodities are adapted to be stacked; said magazine being provided with a port through which a commodity in said magazine is adapted to be projected, a coin chute, a lever arm having laterally extended ends adapted to be alternately projected across the ends of said coin chute, a spring for holding the lower end of said lever arm in normal operative position with respect to said coin chute, a movable slide having an open bottom coin pocket adapted to engage said lever arm to open the bottom and close the top of said coin chute, an open bottom guide-way for said slide having a projection in the bottom thereof adapted to cooperate with the open bottom coin pocket to retain a coin therein until the coin is caused to engage a commodity through the movement of said slide, where by the engagement between the commodity and coin is necessary for the retention of said coin in said coin pocket through the projection of a commodity from said magazine, and the disengagement between the commodity and said coin releases said coin from said'coin pocket.

Signed at Chicago, county of Cook and State of Illinois, this 4th day of January, 1918.

DONALD CHARLESON.

lVitnesses E. K. LUNDY, Jr., H. SLACK. 

